New Salsa! Stronger Flavour :)

Yay!  I have a bit of time between salsa dancing to post about salsa sauce.  Salsa in the Park, block party downtown and after I shower tonight, another salsa social!  So no watching the fight for me.  Go Manny!

Salsa salsa salsa!

So obviously I'm really digging the fresh salsa right now.  The previous one I made was good, but eventually became a bit too subtle for my tastes.  I found another recipe with stronger flavour due to some onion and garlic.  Recipe from here.

Ingredients
-1 mango, diced
-1 avocado, diced
-4 medium tomatoes, diced
-1 jalapeno pepper, minced
-0.5 cup cilantro, chopped
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-pinch of salt
-juice from 2 limes
-0.25 cup red onion, chopped
-3 tbsp olive oil

Prep:
Combine in a big bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 mins before serving.  This recipe lasted me the whole workweek :)

My sister had it with some blackened chicken.  The seasoning is from my previous post (Tom's Blackening Seasoning):

Blackened Salmon and Mango Avocado Salsa

I've been on an antipasto and fresh salsa binge.  I did quick research on trying to do my own antipasto, but fears of botulism quickly laid that idea to rest.  Fresh salsa however - very possible.  I had some freezer burnt frozen mangoes and freezer burnt salmon patties.   I was able to put together delicious lunches for this week thanks to inspiration from these recipes:
Mango and Avocado Quinoa Salad with Blackened Shrimp
Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Avocado Salsa
Tom's Blackening Seasoning

Ingredients for Blackening Seasoning:
1 tbsp paprika (I slipped and accidentally put more than expected)
4 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp stevia
salt to taste
1.5 tsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
0.5 tsp ground nutmeg (not cheap!)
0.75 tsp ground cumin

Blackened Salmon Preparation
1. Put blackening seasoning mix in a container and shake, shake, shake!
Stare at prettyyyyyyyyy colourrrrsssss:

2. Put lightly oiled pan on medium heat.
3. Coat salmon meat in blackening seasoning (save extra seasoning in the container for future blackened meat cooking fun) and cook in the pan.  I had freezer burnt patties, so it was only 6 mins per side.  Slice cooked meat as desired.  I added spinach (of course) and quinoa to mine:

Yum!  I used one patty per lunch serving.

Fresh Mango Salsa Ingredients
2 limes
1 avocado
1 mango
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 green onions
cilantro to taste

Fresh Mango Salsa Preparation (This takes MUCH LONGER than expected!!)
1. This is the hardest part.  Squeeze lime juice out of the limes.
2. Second hardest part.  Dice everything.
3. Wonderful easy finale: mix it all up!  Store in a container that is leakproof and shakeproof.  It tastes great the next day, when the juices are all mingled together.
4. Serve with blackened salmon and anything else you like that goes with salsa :)

Voila!  Mango salsa.  Gorgeous bright colours to cheer up your workday.

Fake Fried Rice

Who knew cauliflower was SO versatile?

Recipe taken from here.  Warning, I had to take beano with this one!  I even tried 'diluting' with some quinoa.

Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower, grated (make time for this!!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp cooking oil
0.25 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
4 eggs
3 green onions, chopped
Dash pepper to taste

Preparation
1.  Lightly oiled pan/wok, medium-high heat.
2.  Put in grated cauliflower and garlic.  Stir fry for about a minute.  If you wait too long, the cauliflower will get mushy.
3.  Add in eggs.  Toss in pan until eggs are cooked.
4. Add in green onions and Dash.

Mahi Mahi Ceviche with Coconut Dressing

This is another one from Michele Cranston (Marie Claire Easy cookbook). You're not supposed to cook the mahi mahi but I panicked and cooked mine since it frozen.

Ingredients
500g firm white fleshed fish, skinned and boned (I used mahi mahi)
3 limes, juiced
100ml coconut cream (I used light coconut milk - couldn't find the cream at Safeway)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp sugar (I used stevia)
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
2 scallions, sliced (I used 4 because I love scallions)
Cooking oil (if you want to cook the fish)

Preparation
1. Cut fish into bite-size pieces (I didn't). Marinate fish pieces in lime juice in the fridge for 2 hours.
2. Optional (I did this because I panicked about frozen fish): drain and cook fish in frying pan - about 3 mins each side. I just used coconut oil to cook.
3. In a separate bowl, mix coconut, ginger, turmeric, sugar, coriander and stir to combine.
4. Drain fish (If you didn't cook it) and add to the coconut dressing. Sprinkle on scallions.

Salmon with Lemongrass and Black Vinegar Dressing

Courtesy of Michele Cranston (Marie Claire Easy cookbook)

SO delicious.

And BTW, lemongrass looks like this (in case you didn't know - because I sure didn't!):

Ingredients for Dressing
1 lemongrass stem
1 tbsp grated ginger (I ran out that day)
125 ml mirin
2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

Rest of Ingredients
500g spinach
4 spring onions, chopped into 3cm pieces
4 180g salmon fillets

Preparation
1. Trim lemongrass stem of tough outer leaves. Trim base. Slice stem in half and finely chop the tender bottom.

2. Place chopped lemongrass in bowl with ginger, mirin and vinegar.

3. Place spinach and spring onions in large frying pan. Add 250ml of water.

4. Top with salmon. Cover and cook in high heat for 8 minutes.

5. Serve topped with dressing.

Tuna and Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Had some pasta and tuna that was just sitting around, so a Google search led me to this recipe. I substituted coconut oil instead of butter and almond milk instead of cream though.

Ingredients
450g tuna
1 onion, chopped
90g butter coconut oil
90g mushrooms, sliced
300ml cream almond milk
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Prep
1. Stir coconut oil, onion and tuna over medium heat until onion is soft.
2. Stir in mushrooms and tomato paste.
3. Add almond milk and parsley.
4. Cook until mushrooms are soft.
5. Serve with pasta (I added spinach too).

The coconut oil adds a pleasant sweetness :)

Szechuan Tofu & Green Beans

So I wanted to try another tofu dish. The sweet and sour one was more subtle than I expected, so I decided to try a Szechuan recipe. I didn't have balsamic vinegar so I used apple cider vinegar instead. Recipe from here.

4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup water, divided
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons Chinkiang vinegar (see Note) or balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
4 cups green beans, trimmed and cut in half
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

Preparation
1. Whisk 1/4 cup water, soy sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, crushed red pepper to taste and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside. Cut tofu into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes and pat dry. Toss the tofu in a bowl with the remaining 2 tablespoons cornstarch to coat.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and spread out across the surface of the pan. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Gently turn and stir. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add green beans, garlic and ginger; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until the beans are crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir the reserved soy sauce mixture and pour it over the green beans. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Add the tofu and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute more.

Tips & Notes
Ingredient note: Chinkiang is a dark, slightly sweet vinegar. It is available in many Asian specialty markets. If unavailable, balsamic vinegar is an acceptable substitute.

Sweet and Sour Tofu!

Recipe from here, but I didn't use the pineapples or bell peppers. Just peas and green onions. Plus I used olive oil:

Ingredients
3 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 14-ounce package extra-firm water-packed tofu, drained, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
As preferred: green peas or onions or any other veggies you like!

Prep
1. Drain and set aside pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. Whisk the reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Place tofu in a large bowl; toss with 3 tablespoons of the sauce. Let marinate for at least 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, add cornstarch to the remaining sauce and whisk until smooth.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer the tofu to the pan using a slotted spoon; whisk any remaining marinade into the bowl of reserved sauce. Cook the tofu, stirring every 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown, 7 to 9 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

4. Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add red and green peppers and cook, stirring often, until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved sauce and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 30 seconds. Add the tofu and pineapple and cook, stirring gently, until heated through, about 2 minutes more.

Am Eating Seafood Again :) Tasty Sesame Tilapia and Mashed Sweet Potato

Yum! Used both stove and oven tonight and used these recipes:

Tasty Sesame Tilapia
Tilapia recipe from here.

Ingredients

1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
6 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia fillets
Directions

Stir the orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a 9x13 inch baking dish until combined. Add the tilapia fillets, turning once to evenly coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Remove the plastic wrap, and bake in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 9 to 11 minutes.

Skinny Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potato Recipe from here.

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) Swanson Chicken Broth (3 1/2 cups)
4 large sweet potatoes or yams, cut into 1 inch pieces
A generous dash of pepper
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
How to prepare:

- Heat broth and potatoes in a saucepan to a boil.
- Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
- Drain, save broth.
- Mash the potatoes with 1 1/4 cups of broth and pepper. If needed, add additional broth until desired consistency.
- Add brown sugar.

Serves about 6.

Back to Quinoa. This time with Turmeric, Coriander, Walnuts and Craisins :)

Can't seem to stay away from quinoa! I used this website (Quinoa Lentil Salad) for inspiration but I used chickpeas instead of lentils (just cuz I happened to have a can of chickpeas already) and added tofu, carrots and celery (I sauteed the tofu, carrots and celery in some olive oil and a bit of turmeric and coriander before I mixed everything up).

QUINOA LENTIL SALAD
6 servings
1 cup dried green lentils
1 bay leaf
1 cup quinoa
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
¾ cup of raisins or cranberries
¾ cup of walnuts
2 green onions
¼ cup of fresh parsley
4 Tbs of lemon juice
1 Tbs of agave
1 Tbs rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
¼ tsp salt
3 Tbs olive oil
pinch of pepper
Add 1 Cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water, 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp salt. Allow to reach a boil then quickly switch to simmer, cover and let cook for approx 12 minutes. Keep an eye on it as it tends to burn on the bottom soon after the water is absorbed.
At the same time, add 1 cup of lentils to 3 cups of water (check the instructions on the package...different lentils call for different proportions). Add a bay leaf and allow to cook thoroughly. Lentils will take quite a bit longer than the quinoa.
Once both grains are cooked, let them cool and then mix together.
In a separate bowl mix together the dressing (the lemon juice, agave, vinegar, salt, oil and pepper).
Add chopped walnuts, cranberries, chopped green onion and minced parsley.

I am SOUPED OUT. New Dish! Frittata :)

After weeks of soup (this is what happens when you make big batches of food and you live alone), I HAD to find something else.

I googled recipes using leftover ingredients from this salad recipe (Good spinach salad! Substituted simulated bacon bits of course).

I picked the following frittata recipe. Minus the meat of course! Oh, and I didn't have a cast-iron skillet either.

Skinny Frittata with Mushrooms, Spinach, Garlic, Potato and a Touch of Prosciutto
Recipe from this site.
Ingredients:

* 1 cup hashbrown potatoes
* 1/4 diced red onion
* 1 dozen cremini mushrooms sliced
* 2/3 cup frozen spinach or 2 cups fresh spinach
* 1 garlic clove
* 4 organic large brown eggs beaten
* 1 slice proscuitto crisped in the oven
* 1-2 TBS Organic Coconut Oil
* Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

In your 12-Inch Cast Iron Skillet melt some of the coconut oil and saute your hash browns. If you’re pressed for time you can skip this step if using frozen hash browns. Just make sure they are not frozen but warmed up in the microwave. I like them browned and crispy before adding them to the eggs.

Saute the onion until soft and then set aside. Not saute the mushrooms until they start to brown and then set aside with onions.

Saute the spinach and garlic until soften and set aside.

Now make sure there is oil in the pan so the eggs will float. I’ve greatly reduced the amount I used to see if it would work and it did. Make sure you have beat the eggs until fluffy which should take at least 2 minutes. This will really make a difference. If you like to add milks to your eggs you can do that now but I found it works just as well without.

Pour the eggs into the pan. Let them settle for a minute but do not touch them or play with them. You want them floating in the oil and if you start messing with them you’ll incorporate that oil into the eggs. Now slowly add in the onions, mushrooms, spinach, garlic and potatoes. Top with the pancetta. When you see the edges start to pull away which should start pretty soon. If you are using more eggs it takes longer but the beauty of less eggs is this is faster.

Pop it into your pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes. If you jiggle the pan and it’s not rippling then the eggs are cooked. Carefully remove the pan and let it sit for 10 minutes. Now you can remove it from the pan, slice it up and serve it warm.

Yield: 4 servings

Notes:

You can add whatever cheese you like to this dish too. If you don’t have cremini mushrooms you can use white or portobello cut into chunks.

If you don’t have a cast iron skillet ask for one this holiday season. If not any non-stick oven safe skillet will work.

Spinachy Tomato-y Legumes.

So far in life I haven't been much of a soup person. I love crunch and texture and soup always just seemed soggy and pointless to me. Occasionally I would indulge in a tomato soup or an onion soup. Back in the day when I wasn't as lactose intolerant I would go for cream of broccoli or cream of mushroom. But normally, I never really used to make or order soup.

Until today! This weekend my mom made a lovely bean soup (I need to get the recipe from her sometime) and I took it to work for lunch earlier today. Fabulous. Not heavy, but filling. After work I quickly googled a soup recipe that showed just as much tomato potential and this is what I chose:

Spinach, Tomato and Lentil Soup
I found it here!
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

1lb dried lentils
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 carrots, diced
2-3 celery stalks, diced
1 large onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cans diced Italian tomatoes, with liquid
2 TB vegetable or chicken bouillion (I like the Better than Bouillon brand, if you don’t have bouillon, just use a vegetable or chicken broth in place of all or some water for flavor)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
8 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 bag fresh spinach
fresh grated Parmesan and extra virgin olive oil, for serving

In a large pot, heat olive oil and add vegetables, garlic, bouillon, spices and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Saute vegetables in oil for about 7-10 minutes until soft and fragrant. Add diced tomatoes, water (or broth), and lentils to vegetable mixture.

Bring soup to a slow boil for a few minutes, then back down to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for about 20-25 minutes, until soup starts to thicken. Taste for seasoning as its cooking, add more water if it gets too thick.

In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add fresh spinach leaves to soup and gently stir to combine.

Garlicky Dahl - Venturing Into the World of Legumes

NEXT-DAY UPDATE: HOLY CRAP THAT WAS GARLICKY and a tad too salty for me. Too make it more to my taste, I mixed in the following sundried tomato pesto recipe to the lentils (I didn't use the garlic and salt because the lentils had enough already):

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
Makes ¾ of a cup – serving = 1 tablespoon
(Recipe taken from here.)

Ingredients:

½ cup of sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained of their oil
¼ cup of sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons of water
2 cloves of garlic
½ teaspoon of kosher salt

Directions:

Put everything the food processor and puree until the paste is smooth. Store the unused portion in the refrigerator until needed.

Hopefully tomorrow's lunch is better! Now on to the original post:

It's been awhile!!

A lot has happened. One of the big things? I stopped eating meat. I've been looking at more vegan substitutes (I'm also lactose intolerant to a significant extent), and it's been an adventure. Pros: I feel good. Lighter! Cons: It's more challenging to eat out socially, but I find people are so nice about it anyway :)

Another pro: BEANS ARE CHEAP!!! Here's a recipe I followed to make a batch of my work lunch for the week. I didn't use frozen or chopped spinach.. I just tossed some spinach leaves in instead. It's because I will be mixing each lunchtime portion with a bowl of fresh spinach anyway (my work lunches are taking up more and more space). I also just used extra virgin olive oil instead of the recipe suggestion - just because I already have the olive oil handy. I also used pre-made mild madras curry paste as my spice.

Delicious Garlicky Dahl
(Recipe taken from this site.)

This super-quick curry is an easy and tasty way to eat a pile of lentils, and gets you extra garlic intake too. Quantity serves one, but is easy to scale up as needed.

* 200g jar of pre-cooked lentils
* 1 tablespoon of sunflower or macadamia oil
* 3 cloves of chopped garlic, or a heaped teaspoonful of chopped frozen garlic
* heaped teaspoonful of good curry powder or garam masala
* generous handful of spinach leaves, roughly chopped.

Heat the garlic, oil, and spices in a heavy-bottomed pan, over a low heat. You want to gently brown and cook the garlic, not burn it, as that will make it bitter. The spices need to cook for several minutes in the sizzling oil, until a delicious curry smell pervades your kitchen...mmm!
Tip in the lentils, including the water in the jar, and stir thoroughly into the spicy garlicky oil. cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat - using pre-cooked lentils means they really don't need long at all, you just need to make sure the flavors are well combined and everything is sizzling throughout. If you prefer your lentils softer, just cook a little longer, adding a dash more liquid if required.
A minute or two before serving, stir in the spinach. It will wilt down quickly, and your dahl will now be streaked with dark green.
Serve immediately, it's a great meal on it's own, or combine with Beautiful Curried Eggs. You can also easily serve this with rice to non-slow-carbers, it makes a great dinner party meal, and if there is a green salad on the table as well you will neither go hungry nor stand out.

Auntie Anne Inspired Pretzels

Every time I go to the states, I find the nearest Auntie Anne's Pretzels and I get the almond coated pretzel with sweet mustard dipping sauce. It's one of my weaknesses!

The boyfriend suggested we make our own and so I looked up a copycat recipe online and just added almonds to my pretzels (he kept his mainly with coarse salt). The result was pretty good! I even found a honey mustard recipe. He even found a biscuit recipe which we put together while waiting for the pretzel dough to rise.

Pretzel Recipe from this site:
Serves/Makes: 12

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
to taste coarse salt
to taste chopped almonds
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

PREPARATION:
Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. Or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

* The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be. (Of course I don't have the counter space!)

*Sweet butter, not regular butter, is one of her secrets!

NUTRITION:
196 calories, 4g fat, 34g carbohydrates, 5g protein per serving. This recipe is low in fat.
Show more nutritional data (including Weight Watcher's Points ® and diabetic exchanges)
This recipe from CDKitchen for Aunt Annie's Soft Pretzels serves/makes 12

___________________________
Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

This recipe is from this site.

3/4 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup Honey
1/8 cup Dijon mustard

Combine all and chill.

__________________________
Bonus: Quick Tea Biscuits

Recipe from this site.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F
Combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Cut shortening in with pastry knife or 2 butter knives until the mixture is crumbly.
Add milk and stir with a fork to make a soft dough
Knead about 10 times and gently roll out to desired thickness – no less than ½ inch.
Cut out rounds with a cookie or biscuit cutter (I use small juice glass)
Repeat by gently kneading dough into one piece and repeating cutting until you use up all your dough (do not work the dough to hard doing this or your biscuits will be tough)
Place your biscuits on a greased cookie sheet
Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until golden and save warm
You can brush them with melted butter when you take them out of the oven for extra taste.

Pesto Qunioa Couscous with Veggies

So I ended up eating that sun dried tomato quinoa dish for MONTHS. It was time to change it up. I found a pesto quinoa dish from this but I also added couscous, mushrooms, broccoli and peas.

Heather's Quinoa - Angel Style

-extra-virgin olive oil
-1 yellow onion, chopped
-1 cup quinoa
-1 cup couscous
-1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
-1 cup broccoli, chopped
-1 package of extra-firm tofu, chopped
-1/3 cup pesto
-1/3 cup pumpkin seed
-1 package of sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1. Stir fry shallot and tofu in olive oil for around a minute.

2. Add corn, broccoli, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes.

3. Cook quinoa and couscous separately. I just add 4 cups of water to the couscous/quinoa mixture, bring to a boil and then simmer until most of the water is gone and you end up with a fluffy mixture.

4. Mix everything in a big pot. Add pesto.

Result - Nice texture and a great way to have a lot of veggies. I ate this for 2 weeks straight.

Quinoa with Sundried Tomato and Spinach

You guessed it, I Googled the following:

quinoa
sundried tomato

And voila!! Recipe inspiration here. I added my beloved baby spinach of course.

Quinoa with Sundried Tomato and Spinach

1 cup quinoa (wash it if it's not pre-washed!)
8 sun-dried tomatoes (i just got a jar of them in some kind of oil)
1 tbsp olive oil (i used the oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes)
2 shallots; minced
1 clove garlic; minced
5 oz. baby spinach
2 cups chicken stock or water
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 tbsp Chopped fresh parsley

Preparation (~30 min)

1. Heat oil in saucepan over med. heat. Add tomatoes, shallots and garlic, spinach and saute for 3-5 mins, or until shallots are softened.

2. Add in quinoa and stir for about 1 min.

3. Add stock or water and bring to a boil. Stir in cayenne then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 20 mins, or until liquid is absorbed. Let sit for 5 mins, and fluff grains with a fork to separate. Stir in fresh parsley.

Result: Yum!! Really love this one. Been cooking and eating it for weeks now actually.

Otsu!

Japanese buckwheaty goodness found here. I believe this was a result of Googling the following:

tofu
cilantro

I ended up having to go to an Asian supermarket to get many of the ingredients (noodles, low sodium soy, sesame oil, rice vinegar). Safeway fail! I was surprised to find that 100g of soba noodles has 15g of protein! At least that's what it said on the nutritional label!

Otsu

Grated zest of 1 lemon (I had to Google to figure out what 'zest' is)
Grated 1-inch cube of ginger
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

12 ounces or about 400-500g (1 bundle approx 100g) of dried soba noodles
1 package extra-firm tofu
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 small handful of cilantro sprigs, for garnish
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Preparation (25 min):
1. Dressing (5 min)
Combine the zest, ginger, honey, cayenne, and salt in a food processor (or use a hand blender) and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, rice vinegar, and shoyu, and pulse to combine. With the machine running, drizzle in the oils.

2. Cook the soba in boiling water just until tender, then drain and rinse under cold running water (4 min).

3. Drain the tofu, pat it dry, and cut it into rectangles roughly the size of your thumb (½ inch thick and 1 inch long). Cook the tofu in a pan over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy (10 min).

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the soba, the ¼ cup cilantro, the green onions, cucumber, and the dressing. Toss until well combined. Add the tofu and toss again gently. Serve on a platter, garnished with the cilantro sprigs and the toasted sesame seeds (2 min).

Result? Deelish!! Warm OR room temperature. I made this 2 weeks in a row!

Spinach and Mushroom Couscous

Spinach and mushroom couscous came from here. I added a can of chickpeas and some sundried tomato dressing :)

Spinach and Mushroom Couscous

1 box couscous
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 package fresh baby spinach (about 5 oz)
1 package mushrooms
1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation (~20 min)

1. Cook the couscous according to the directions on the package (including 1 tbsp of olive oil), and set aside, covered, to keep warm (5 min)

2. Saute garlic and diced onions in 3 tbsp olive oil. When fragrant, lower the heat and add spinach, mushrooms, chickpeas and 1/4 cup water. Cook until the water burns off, the spinach wilts and the mushrooms are cooked (10 min)

3. Mix couscous and spinach and mushroom combination. Add sundried tomato dressing as desired.

Result: If you love mushrooms, this is a mushroomy delight!

Spinach and Chickpea Curry

I Googled the following

chickpeas
spinach

And found a vegan curry recipe.

To play with the curry taste, I got to use my leftover Greek yogurt! Vegan fail.

First, you have to obtain Garam Masala - either by cooking or putting it together yourself. Here is the recipe:

Garam Masala

4 tsp. Ground coriander
1 tsp. Pepper
2 tsp. Ground cumin
1 tsp. Ground cloves
1 tsp. Ground cinnamon

Next, the final dish!

Spinach and Chickpea Curry

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 can tomatoes
1 package frozen chopped spinach
2 -3 teaspoons Garam Masala
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
yogurt, as needed

Preparation (30 min):

1. Medium heat. Add olive oil to pan. Sauté the onion, stirring constantly, until it is just beginning to brown. Add the garlic and cook one minute more.

2. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, spinach, garam masala, and salt. Stir and cook for at least 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve over rice or other grain (I used whole grain couscous). Add yogurt to taste.

Result: Tasty, but watery and lacking in salt. This might be the fault of the frozen spinach, and my non-use of salt and the chilies.

Mint + Couscous = Yum!

I had all this leftover mint from the previous recipe and I really didn't know what to do with it! Also, someone at work frequently eats couscous, which I have always been curious about. So back to Google I went:

mint
couscous

I settled on this Mint Couscous Salad with Chickpeas recipe, because it can be served warm. I've discovered that I am happiest with warm food at lunch.

Again, I added a couple of handfuls of spinach and real cumin seeds in addition to cumin powder. It's really easy to prepare and ends up being a nice, light tasting and refreshing meal with lots of texture. I doubled everything in the recipe because I wanted at least 3 days of lunches and a bit for tonight's dinner. Here goes!

Mint Couscous with Chickpeas

2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 handfuls of spinach
4 tbsp of lemon juice for the chickpeas
pinch of red pepper flakes
cumin powder, garlic powder, onion powder to taste
sprinkle of cumin seeds
2 tbsp extra virgin oil
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups couscous (only kind I found was flavoured - "Wild Mushroom")
4 tbsp of lemon juice for the couscous
4 tbsp of Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
chopped walnuts to taste

Preparation (15 min):
1. Toss lemon juice, olive oil, spices, chickpeas and spinach and let marinate while cooking couscous.
2. Combine vegetable broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add couscous and then remove from heat. Let steep, covered, for 5 min.
3. Fluff couscous mixture with fork and add chickpea mixture.
4. Stir in Greek yogurt.
5. Stir in mint and walnuts.

Yum!